Abu Dhabi GP: Another tough race for Williams to end seasonBy Andrew Hooper November 26 2018

The final race of the 2018 Formula One season would see the Williams Martini team complete another tough race with neither driver scoring points. Despite seeing Lance Stroll finishing in 13th and Sergey Sirotkin 15th it was another race that saw both drivers lack the pace hindering them even to be close to scoring points. Both drivers would benefit more from the retirements of others in front of them to give them the positions they achieved in the race. Not a race to remember as the season comes to a close for the Williams team.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race Review

The final race
of the 2018 Formula One season the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see the
Williams Martini drivers line up 19th and 20th with Sergey Sirotkin leading
team-mate Lance Stroll on the grid. Both drivers would be leaving the team
after this race so it would be their last opportunity to try to produce a
result. The grid would see Hamilton on pole from Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen,
Ricciardo, Verstappen, Grosjean, Leclerc, Ocon and Hulkenberg in tenth. Of
the top ten it would be the top five who would start the race on the
ultrasoft tyre. The others would be on the hypersoft. Outside the top ten
the tyre selections would see both Williams starting on the soft tyre joined
by Ericsson, Magnussen, Gasly and Vandoorne. Sainz, Perez, Alonso and
Hartley were on the ultrasoft tyre.

The grid would complete their formation lap and would return and form up and
the lights would go out and it would be Hamilton leading from Bottas while
Verstappen had dropped to tenth. But the race would be marred by contact
between Hulkenberg and Grosjean which would see Hulkenberg's Renault roll
into the barrier. There would be a small fire which was quickly put out.
This would see The Safety Car been deployed as they rolled the Renault back
over allowing Hulkenberg to get out of the wrecked car. Hamilton was still
leading as the accident was cleared with Bottas second followed by Vettel,
Raikkonen, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Ocon, Verstappen and Perez tenth.
For Williams Lance was running in 15th and Sergey 18th.

No action was
taken in regard to the Grosjean and Hulkenberg incident. The Safety Car
would come in on lap five of fifty five. Verstappen would be fighting with
the Force India pair seeing Perez get past but the Red Bull would get back
in front to be ninth again. Lance would see Magnussen get past to take 15th
while Ocon and Verstappen were fighting with places changing between them.
But Verstappen would get past Ocon while Raikkonen would retire on the main
straight seeing the Virtual Safety Car deployed. This would see Hamilton
leading from Bottas, Vettel, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Verstappen, Ocon,
Perez and Ericsson now tenth. Lap nine and Hamilton would pit taking on the
supersoft tyre dropping to fifth. Leclerc and Grosjean would also pit seeing
them drop to 14th and 18th. This would see the Williams drivers 13th and
16th.

Bottas was now leading from Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Hamilton, Ocon,
Perez, Ericsson, Sainz and Gasly tenth. Hamilton would be told that he would
be going to the end of the race on the supersoft tyre. Lance was now running
in 14th and Sergey 16th. Sergey would be passed by Grosjean to now be 17th.
Lap seventeen and Vettel would pit taking on the supersoft tyre to now be
sixth behind Ocon. Bottas was now leading from Ricciardo and Verstappen.
Vettel would pass Ocon for fifth while lap eighteen and Bottas would pit
allowing Ricciardo to lead. Bottas would come back out in fourth running on
the supersoft tyre. Verstappen would pit from third seeing Hamilton and
Bottas now second and third.

Lap twenty and
Ocon would pit dropping to 18th returning on the supersoft tyre. This would
see the Williams drivers now 13th and 16th. Drivers would be told that there
was the possibility of rain while Sergey would be passed by Ocon but Ocon
had changed tyres. A few drops of rain would fall but this was not of
concern for the drivers. Sergey would also be passed by Hartley to be the
last car running. Sergey had run wide at the final corner allowing Hartley
past. Lance was up in 12th as Ericsson retired out on the track with no
power. Sergey was now 17th on lap twenty seven. Leclerc would pass Alonso
for ninth but both would go up the order when Perez pitted on lap twenty
nine.

The top ten was Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Verstappen, Sainz,
Gasly, Leclerc, Perez and Alonso tenth. Alonso would pit on lap thirty
returning in 17th on the supersoft tyre. Lance was now running 11th and
Sergey 16th but neither had pitted. Lance would move up one place to be
tenth after Gasly pitted. Gasly was ion the ultrasoft tyre and in 16th.
Sergey was one place ahead in 15th. Vandoorne was able to get past Ocon and
Grosjean to be 11th. But Ocon would get past Vandoorne to take 11th but he
had used the run off area to complete the move. Sergey would be passed by
Alonso for 16th but Lance was still in tenth while on lap thirty five
Ricciardo would pit dropping to fifth and on the supersoft tyre. Lap thirty
six and Vettel was able to get past Bottas to be second. Verstappen was now
right behind Bottas while Ocon would get a five second penalty for his
gaining an advantage.

Sergey would
finally pit on lap thirty eight changing to the ultrasoft but he was now a
lpa down still in 17th. Verstappen would finally get past Bottas to now be
third while Ricciardo was now challenging Bottas. Ocon would pass Lance for
tenth seeing the Williams drivers now 11th and 17th. Ricciardo would also
get past Bottas seeing the Red Bull cars now third and fourth. At the front
Hamilton was now leading Vettel by 5.8 seconds as Bottas pitted on lap forty
two taking on the ultrasoft tyre returning in fifth. Lance would finally pit
on lap forty three taking on the ultrasoft tyre and returning in 15th and
one lap down. Sainz would pit on lap forty four taking on new supersoft tyre
and retaining sixth. lance was quickly closing in onto 14th placed Hartley.

Ocon would be forced to pit and into retirement with no power. This would
see Lance and Sergey 14th and 16th. The Force India would stop on the pit
lane entry requiring a push out of the way. Gasly would also retire with an
engine issue seeing Lance now 13th and Sergey 15th but with only a handful
of laps remaining. At the front Hamilton was still leading from Vettel,
Verstappen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Grosjean and Magnussen
tenth. The race would complete the final laps with the order remaining
unchanged seeing Hamilton take victory from Vettel and Verstappen. With the
finish of the race the Williams team would see their drivers come home in
13th and 15th. Far from a race to remember let alone a season to remember.